Preparing rubber-coated fabric



Feb. 15,1927. '1,617,340

c. MACBETH ET AL PREPARING RUBBER COATED FABRICS Filed March 19. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet l i QQQQQQQQQQQQ Q. u

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PREPARING RUBBER COATED FABRICS f s sheets-sheet 2 Filed Maron l?. 1926 Feb. `15, 1921. 1,617,340

C. MACBETH ET AL PREPARING RUBBER COATED FABRICS Filed March 19. 1926 3 Sheets-Sheet 5 Snom/tow CoL//v /Q CBETH W d @swim '6m/mf MVEXTER Patented Feb. 15, 1927.

. UNITED sTaTEs reime PATENT ermee.

COLIN MACBETH, OF FOUR OAKS,AND WALLACE JOHN DEXTER, OF ERDINGTON, BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND, ASSIGNORS TO DUNLOP TIRE AND RUBBER CORPORA- TIION OF'AMERICA, OF BUFFALO, NEW YORK, A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

PREPARING RUBBER-COATED FABRIC.

.Applicationjilei March .419, 1926, Serial No. 95.862, and in Great Britain February 2, 1925.

"Thisinvention relates to the preparation of rubber coated fabrics and apparatus therefor.

1 .In' the' preparation of such fabric, -1t has lheretofore been customary to pass it between two of the bowls of a calender where it meets 'with a film of calendered rubber which is caused to adhere to the said fabric by the pressure of the calender bowls.

To'coat the fabric simultaneously on both sides', it has been necessary Ato utilize a four bowl calender, rubber being inserted at the v'vnip'of the first and second bowls and the third and fourth bowls respectively. rThe fabric was passed between the second and third bowls and thus'both of its sides were caused to contact with a rubber film.

' Such a calender is expensive and not alf'ways available and in many cases 1t has been .found advisable to substitute a three bowl :calender therefor, rubber being inserted f between the nip 'ofthe first andsecond bowls f third bowls. Thus onl and the fabric passed between the second and one side of lthe fabric contacted the rub er film and it was necessary to reverse the 4fabric and .repeat the operation in order to apply a coating of rubber to the opposite side thereof.

This dual operation neeessarilyadded to the cost of coating a fabric on both sides and one ofthe objects of the present invention 'is" to rov'ide means whereby a three bowl calen er may be utilized to apply a coating of rubber toboth sides of a fabric 1n one operation, that is to say,` in one continuous passage to and from the calender inrwhich passage opposed. surfaces of the sald fabric are successively brought into contact with films or sheets of rubber formed upon the surfaces of two of the calender, bowls.

A further object of the invention is to pro- Vide means whereby strands, threads or cords of textilel material may be substituted for the aforementioned fabric, and themselves be formed into a weftless fabric bythe application of a coating of rubber toeach surface thereof. i l

According to the embodiment of the invention-illustrated, we utilize a calender of known type comprisingthree bowls arranged vertically oneabovel the other and we insert rubber at the nip of the vfirst and lsecond bowls from one side of the calender, and

from the'opposite side thereof we insert rubber at the nip of the second and third (or lowest) bowls. Thus we form two lilms of rubber one each upon opposite sides of the calender and we provide means whereby the fabric is so guided that one surface is brought into contact with one of the said films of rubber and subsequently its opposite surface is caused to contact with the otherl and similar films of rubber formed lupon theother bowl and upon the opposite side of the said calender. The illustration shows also means whereby strands, threads or cords of textile' material are arranged in parallel relationship side by side in sheet like formation and then guided by the means hereinbefore referred to,y successively into contact with the films of rubber formed upon the aforesaid calender bowls.

The accompanying drawings illustrate embodiments of the invention:

Fig. 1 is a perspective View illustrating our invention in use on unwoven or weftless fabric.

Fig. 2 is a side view of a modification of .Fi 7 shows diagrammatically our inven:

tion 1n useion woven fabric. y

Referring first to Fig. 1 which illustrates a method of practising our invention' on unwoveni or weftless fabric, We utilize an existing calender of the hereinbefore referred to typel (known as a three bowl cal' ender) an we insert rubber at the nip 1 of the bowls 1 and 2 and, at the opposite side of the calender, at the nip 1* of the bowls 2 and 3.

We provide means to arrange the individ ual cords 5, side by side in sheet like formatlon, and to present one side 5 of the same to the rubber film on the bowl 1 from the -nip l'and the opposite 'side 5b thereof tov the rubber film on the bowl 2 vfrom the nip 1".

One means of arranging the cords in sheet like formation is illustrated in Fig. l, but it will be readily understood that we do not limit ourselves to this arrangement, A pluof spools on one tier.

jecting from both sides of the two frames 'Z of :aV-shaped creel. The said spools G are arranged in tiers, as shown in Fig. 1, on the frames, and larranged at right angles across the end of each tier and sllghtly above the level of the spools is a plate or plates 8 provided with holes equal to the number of spools on one tier, i. e. one complete layer of four rows of spools. The cords 5 pass through the said holes and from thence to a collecting frame 9 placed at an angle of 45 degrees to both the centre-line of the creel and the axis of the calender bowls. Such an arrangment is preferred because of its c0nsequent space saving and accessibility, but it will be readily understood that the angle may be varied leven to the extent of placing the creel in direct alignment with the calender bowls-its centre at right angles to the axis thereof. The said frame 9 is of known type, and is provided .with holes equal to the number of spools on the complete creel. The said frame as shown inl Fig. 1 is constructed of contiguous plates 10 eV ual to the number ach plate'is provided with vertically arranged holes 11 equal to the number of tiers. Thus is formed an' arrangement of holes in horizontal and vertical rows, the former containing holes equal' to the number of ,spools in a tier, the latter, holes equal to the number of tiers.` The cords from each tier pass through their appropriete horizontal' row of holes-the first tier 12 through the first row 12a, and the last tier'13 through the last row l-and from thence to a further guiding reed 14 placed parallel to the axis of the calender bowl and arranged at a suitable an le to the plane of the cords as shown in ig. 1. The said reed--of known types-is composed of a plurality of .wires 15, spaced apart the thickness of one, two or more cords as required, and arranged vertically between two bars 16 provided with skids 17 for the higher and lower tiers of cords. By this arrangement of creel and reeds, the vertical depth of the cord formation is gradually decreasing from several feet at the creel end to a few inches at the final guiding reed 14. '.lhe process of laying the cords side by side in sheet like formation is finally completed by the roller lor skid 18.

From the said roller 18 the cord is passed over a 'roller 19 which causes its side 5 to contact with the rubber film on the surface of the bowl 1', whence/it is passed beneath the. calendar-guided thereunder by idler.

` drum. f

cord.

Langeac y illustrated in betweenxthe roller l8aand .the fabric, to.l prevent the adhesion of .successivestrataV wound upon the other Referring tothe embodimentof the invention shown in Figs. 1 and 7 means are l v'provided to press a roller 19ftoward the bowl 1 so as to insure goodA adhesion of the rubber to one side, for example, 5av of vthe Similar mechanism is rovided for a roller 19a for the-purpose of? applying the rubberto'the 'opposite side 5b ofthe fabric.

Means are also provided for forcingthe fabric intocontact with the' rubber. under pressure.- Une such means as'shownin Figs. l, 2 and 3` consist in mountlng the roller 19 A between the arms 24 of apair of crank levers 25 pivoted at 26 on'the frame of the calenl of rollers, illustrated in Figs. k1, 2 and 3 which causes'the fabric to make arcuate contact with the rubber film and enables it to be presented tothe said film tangentially, so

that it gradually makes more and more intimate contact therewith. p y

The preferred means, Figs. 1, 2 and 3 consist in extending `the arms24 of the lever 25 and providing between 'the ends ofthe Y said extensions 24a the further roller or skid 18, so that a length of cord substantially equal to the distance between the-two rollers 18 and 19 is presented to the film of rubber 'upon the bowl.1. Thus, to some extent, the

rubber is made to adhere to the cordbefore it is fnally'pressed'thereonto by the pressure roller 19. j

When' the cord trainreceived its motion by 'frictional oontactwith .the calender bowl,

arcuatev contact servesthe purpose of increasing the frictlonal area under the 1nluence or the calender bowls rotation. Al

ternatively the rollers .18 and/or 19 may be power driven, but this is not shown in the drawings. .a

So that the -fabric may be completely coated-from edge to edge-the rubber film is allowed to overlap its edges and means are provided to cut away the surplus overlap,

and to dispose of the resultant trimmingsto collect them, so that they may be againfed to the nip ofthe calender bowls.`

As shown m Figs. 2 and 3 a pair of spring pressed knives 28 adapted to sever 'the rubber film immediately past the fabric edge are pivotally mounted in brackets 29 `attached to opposite ends of the pivot 26 which spans the calender bowls.. To 'collect the 'and refed to the rubber bank at the nip of the bowls, `or the trimmings may be guided back to the'said nip again in known manner.. As shown inFi'gs. 4 and 6 the said knife is afiixcd to a handle 32 slidably mounted in brackets 33 to enable the precise adjustment ofthe-knife over the fabric edge to be attained as shown in Fig. 5. Set screws 34 are provided to lock the knife in that position. The'said brackets 33 are slidably mounted on a. bar 35 spanning the calender bowls 'to allow for endwise adjustment.

The foregoing description is confined to a method ofapplying our invention to unwoven-Orlaweftlesss-cord, but it will be `readily understood that the same may be adapted fornse on woven fabric.

Fig. ".7 illustrates diagrammatically a method of practising our invention on woven fabric. It will be readily understood that we do not limitourselves to this'arrangement of threading; We reel off the said fabric from a. known type of drum 36 and immediately pass itover the rollers 18 and 19, whence the process is identical with that already de-` scribed fo'r weftless cord.

The term fabric used in the specification andv claims ,is intended to include a. multiplicity of substantially parallel warped cords Whether or not they are bound or woven together by the use of weft cords.

Various modifications of the embodiment illustrated may be made by those skilled in the art without departing from the inven-y tion as defined in the following claims.

lVhat we claim is:

'1. An apparatus for applying a rubber coating to a fabric comprising three aligned calender bowls, a-pair of guide rolls at one side of the top bowl arranged to position the fabric for cri-operation with a film of rubber on said bowl, pivoted arms supporting said guide .rolls and means coacting with said arms for pressing them toward the top calender bowl, means for holding the fabric out of contact with the third bowland guidel rollers 'carried by pivoted armsfor positioning the fabricV for coaction with a film of rubber on the second bowl.

2. An apparatus for applying a rubber coating to a cord fabric vincluding' in combination a calender bowl arranged to have a Hlm of ,rubber applied thereto, guides forpositioning a multiplicity of aligned cords in juxtaposition to said calender bowl, spaced rollers over which said cords pass, a pivoted member for supporting said spaced rollers and means coacting with said member tending to press the lspaced rollers toward said calender bowl.

Inv w1tness whereof, we signed our names.

COLIN MACBETH. WALLACE JOHN DEXTER.

have hereunto 

